THE FACE 357 



The Ascending Plate, or Nasal Process, is a thin, pointed splint of 

 bone, which rises from the external superior side of the body. It is 

 bowed outward, twisted on its own axis, and points backward as well 

 as upward. It has two surfaces and two borders. 



The external, or facial, surface (Figs. 274, 275) is a continuation 

 upward of the anterior surface of the body. It is triangular, convex 

 from above downward, smooth, and forms the lower part of the side 

 of the nose. Near its posterior border, below, is a nutrient foramen. 

 Its anterior border begins in a little spine or tubercle, the anterior 

 nasal spine, on the superior border of the body ; it then passes upward 

 as the rounded and emarginate lateral margin of the nasal aperture. 

 Above this opening it is straight, cut off obliquely backward, and joins 

 the nasal bone. The posterior border is sinuate, and cleft to receive 

 the sharp anterior edge of the ascending process of the maxillary. 

 The internal surface has the same form as the external, but is concave 

 from above downward. It is smooth, and enters into the extreme 

 anterior part of the lateral wall of the nasal chamber. 



The Palatine Process (Figs. 276, 277) springs from the inner side 

 of the body ; it runs directly backward, and is compressed laterally. 

 The triangular interval left between it and the posterior surface of the 

 body of the bone is known as the palatine notch, which, when com- 

 pleted behind by the maxillary, becomes the anterior palatine foramen. 

 The lower part of the median surface (Fig. 278) is flat and smooth, 

 and articulates with the same process of the opposite bone. The upper 

 part, which is arcuate above, is also smooth, but slopes slightly out- 

 ward, forming with its fellow a groove which receives the lower end of 

 the cartilaginous nasal septum. The external surface has the shape of 

 the median surface and is concave from above downward. Its posterior 

 pointed part articulates with the maxillary and with the vomer. The 

 lower border is long and narrow ; it contributes one-half of the septum 

 which divides the anterior palatine foramina. The posterior border 

 runs upward and backward and articulates with the superior surface 

 of the horizontal plate of the maxillary. 



Determination. When the alveolar border is held uppermost 

 and away from the student, the palatine process is on the side to which 

 the bone belongs. 



Articulation. Each premaxillary articulates with the maxillary, 

 the nasal, the vomer, and the other premaxillary. 



